City of the Fallen Sky [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

What a great book!  I've read several novels in the Pathfinder Tales line, and City of the Fallen Sky is the best of the lot so far.  I'm a big fan of Tim Pratt from his Marla Mason urban noir fantasy series, but I wasn't sure whether he would "get" Golarion and a more traditional fantasy setting.  He does, absolutely.  There's a real verve to Pratt's writing, an exciting energy that keeps the pages turning as the story builds.  His characters avoid being of the cliche "stock" type, there's plot twists when you least expect them, and a surprising (and appreciated) amount of world-lore that helps develop the setting further.

SPOILERS

The protagonist of City of the Fallen Sky is an alchemist named Alaeron.  Alaeron lives in Almas (in Andoran), having recently returned from a dangerous escapade in Numeria where he discovered several strange devices from the ancient crashed starship known as Silver Mount.  Alaeron is well-rounded, three-dimensional character: fascinated by mysteries and technology, but with just enough common sense to keep him ahead of the threats he has to face in order to delve deeper into the secrets he hopes to uncover.  In trying to help out a woman Jaya, Alaeron angers a local crimelord and both he and Jaya are sent under the watchful eye of a murderous street thug named Skiver to travel to the ruins of Kho (in western Osirion), an ancient crashed "sky city" from the legendary empire of Shory.

The adventure takes the three from Andoran to Absalom and from Absalom through various parts of Osirion.  There are also well-integrated flashbacks of Alaeron's time in Numeria.  The description of these places is fantastic, and I'll refer back to this book for an "eye-level" view the next time I run games that visit these locations.

The three main characters are all well-drawn, with Skiver being particularly memorable.  Yes, he's a murderer, but he has this strange, alluring charisma which makes it hard for the reader not to somehow cheer for him anyway.  And he's gay, and I always appreciate it when authors recognize that not everyone, even in a fantasy setting, is heterosexual.  The major villains of the piece are also really good, with a Numerian bounty hunter named Kormak reminding one of the Terminator in his utter determination (and indestructibility), while a crazed Shory noble is hilarious and creepy at the same time.  The book is very faithful to the game, so Alaeron (the alchemist) uses things like bombs, mutagens, and extracts just like a character from that class would in the RPG.

If the book drags for just a touch in the middle, it makes up for it with a fantastic final quarter.  The ending is cinematic and exciting, and would make the basis for a great movie.  Even the epilogue has a couple of nice twists, and sets things up for another book perfectly.  If you can only read one Pathfinder Tales book, I'd suggest picking this one.